Tag: God

What do you want from life? It’s not a hard question, but most people have a hard time with it. I bet most people would love to say, ” Respect, a long life with the person that turns into a romantic love that is ever lasting, a good job that you love and want to do, a family with great kids, and total dedication to the Lord.” People also want the best for their kids and to be able to retire with a nice little nest egg. This is not an easy road and it has a lot of twists and turns a nd detours that you can’t always plan for. It takes a lot of work with you giving it all your blood, sweat and tears.

Unfortunately, more than a few people are not willing to do the work and get the gold ring in life. It could be because of what they’ve seen from their own family that didn’t work the way they wanted or because of what they saw in the world around them. When you are young everything is black/white. As you grow up that protection bubble starts to fade and colors come into focus and a person starts to question everything. They mean well and want the best and start to work towards it, but then they see that everything that sparkles is not gold and how other people can just snap their fingers and get whatever they want out of life. They see people that are “above the law” because of their money and power. They know the different “classes” that are still in place nowadays. It seems that for some people, life is grand with little problems, But if you come from the “wrong side of the tracks,” nothing is easy and you have to fight for every scrap of food or worms that you get.

I didn’t make life easy for myself. I would not do what anyone would tell me to do unless I was got the answers to just a few questions. You know them as the Five W’s: Who, What, When , Where, and Why. You can also throw How into the mix, just to get the whole picture. I didn’t think is was wrong to question everything from God, Unfortunately, life doesn’t lend itself to you tryinbg out both plans for your life and picking the one that you want to live. I have hopefully grown in knowledge and experience by now that I can to see of the pitfalls in life, but I’m finding out more and more that it is not the case.

Everyone walks their own path. For some it seems easier then others. For those of the second kind it loo hard as can be. I am the second, but some of which I caused myself. I found the real God a little late in life (around I turned 50). Even when I had religion force fed down my throat, I still didn’t find Him. We are to walk and work within the boundaries that are set by God for as long as we are on this Earth. God will make it easier if you are willig to give up your control, and let Him take over your life. God knows the end of the story for you so surrender your life unto the Lord and you will be amazed by what happens to your life.

I followed my own path which didn’t have God in the mix for a very long time. I blamed other people for doing wrong when it was all me. I just put off responsibility for as long as I could. Even then I tried to control other people’s live as if that was even possible with God looking afterme. I didn’t want the blame for the mess that I had created in my life. Now don’t get me wrong. I may have thought in my own mind that I had gone totally to the dark side. But to tell the whole truth, I really was no where near it.

Now that I have God in my life “again”, I am trying to discover me and my gifts as well as my place in God’s world. You see once you turn your life over the God, Satan tries everything that he can to keep you from God’s Love and way of life. He will even throw the book at you. You see, Satan has no power in this world unless your give him the power. He is only here until the return of Jesus and then Judgement Day is here and Satan will going down.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mins, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Before you can transform your mind, you have to start every day to humble yourself before the Lord. To humble yourself, you have to first admit and then show your helplessness to follow God on your own, but willing to follow the teachings of Christ as well as acquire His character as your own. You labor in vain if you don’t receive inner power, all that is good, as well as love from God. You can’t love without receiving love from God. God is love and He gives His grace and love only to the humble.

James 4:6 NKJV

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

‘ God resists the proud

But gives grace to humble’ “

God wants you to love and obey Him and also draw close to Him. When you do these things and keep yourselves open up to Him all the time, you can stand on and claim His love, power, and fulfillment.

When you start feeling like you are slipping far away God, you should drop down to your knees and start praying right then and there. First, you humble and then confess to God every sin that could be standing in your way to God. Search your Bible and then wait for the “golden nugget” that God wants you to learn from the “down time”. It might be greater empathy for others, more of God’s character, or even more of His love. Waiting for God/Holy Spirit’s unlimited potential and resurrection power living inside of you is the only way to endure the pain of this world and waiting for the “nugget” that God is wanting to give to you.

II Corinthians 10:5 NKJV

“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

Now that you are waiting on God, you have to take you ideas, thoughts, imaginations, dreams, and beliefs captive to the obedience of Christ. All your words, actions and emotions come from somewhere inside you. They come from your mind and heart and you can wake each and every morning with the assurance that you have the power to control how you feel, what you say, and how you act during the entire day and night with God’s help. It is a constant adventure and daily war because the closer you are to God the more Satan doesn’t like it. No one is a victim!

Today, I have to tell you that I’m thankful for a lot of things in my life. Let me start with the basics. I am thankful for God who created me in His own image. I’m thankful for Jesus who died on the cross for my sins. This means that I can ask for forgiven and become Holy again in the eyes of God. My name is now written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

I’m very thankful to every one of you that read my blog. You take time out of your busyness to read what I said that day. You might even comment on it as well and start a conversation.

I’m thankful to my family, friends and my church family. Y’all have taught me so much so much and have helped me grow in Walk with the Lord. You have helped me out when I needed it. Eric and Bonnie, Mark and Kitty, Ellen and Wylie, Barbara, Ms. Annie, Jennifer, and Michelle just to name a few. You know who you are.

I am thankful for my ex-husbands for making me the better person that I am today. Eric, you showed me the truth of and gentle side of real love, and what it means to be a true Southern Gentleman. I’m just sorry that I threw it away. Philip, you brought out a strength and determination in me that I didn’t know I had. You opened my eyes to several different worlds and I learned a lot. Paul, you supported me no matter what crazy idea I had. You got me to go back to college, and I now have my AS in Accounting. Some members of my family thought I wouldn’t go back to college much less get a degree.

These are only a few of the people and the that I am thankful for. If you are not mentioned I am sorry, but you are loved as well.

The above scriptures both talk about being still for God, but you are being still for two completely different reasons.

Exodus 14:14 talks about how the you don’t have to do the fighting because the Lord will do the fighting for you, all you have to do is be still. Stop fighting. Let the Lord do the fighting for you. Stand down. Lay down your arms. Back off. Take a vacation. STOP THE FIGHTING! BE STILL FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE AND LET GOD HANDLE IT!

Psalm 46:10 talks about being still in Spirit and getting to know the Spirit of God. It is about tuning the world out and letting God in. The only way that this can happen is by being still and letting yourself be quite. You have to be able to concentrate on one thing at a time and that would be God. CAN YOU BE STILL? SILENT? CAN YOU LET GOD IN?

Is it really such a foreign concept in today’s society to be still? To slow down? To stop and do nothing for a while? Even for a minute? Can you do one thing at a time? I know that it is hard for me to admit that it is hard for me to do just one thing at time, but I am getting better at it the more I try.

You should try doing one thing at a time some time. Try praying to God for 5 minutes without doing anything else one day. When your mind starts to wonder, bring it back to God. Keeping doing that over and over until your mind stops wondering. Pray to yourself or out loud. It doesn’t matter. Just spend time with your Heavenly Father only. It’s not as easy as it sounds in our fast pace world unless you put forth the effort to do it.

You know what’s great about putting forth the effort to be still, you let God do the fighting for you and you get to know who God is which will allow you to grow more than you ever thought you could in ways that you could never have dreamed of in a million years. Great things will follow you if you let God have the reins of your life because God is working a great work in you, and He will be working it until the day that Christ Jesus returns. Look it up for yourself. It’s written right there in the Bible in black and white and red. Jesus said it in RED so it MUST BE TRUE!!!!! Not only are Jesus’s words in Red but they are covered in his blood. You and I are covered in his blood. Let us all be still together and Let God do His thing!

My friend and I were watching TV and eating Dove candy one night when I came across the following quote in a Dove candy wrapper.

Difficult roads often lead to Beautiful destinations.”

Jetta L from Massachusetts

It really spoke to me because I have had a not so good life for the most part. I have gone through physical, sexual, emotional, mental, and verbal abuse as well as being homeless twice, raped three times, had an abortion because of a rape, Bipolar II, PTSD, Schizo-affective Disorder, trying to raise my kids as best as I could while being single after my last two divorces trying to take care of my mental issues and myself all at the same time – Unfortunately, the kids were the ones to suffer more than I did, living in a park, living in the streets, trying to hold down a job while dealing with almost suicidal depression, being on drugs (been cleaned since 24January1999) – Crystal Meth and Cocaine, (Not Crack,) and also moving from family member to family member because I was such a rebellious and hard to handle child. (It was not fun.) I would not listen to anyone, especially if you were a man. My granddad would say that I could only learn things through the University of Hard Knocks. At first I thought it was a real university , like Ole Miss, but then I learned the truth, meaning that I was hard headed and could only learn by doing and making the mistake myself. No one could just tell me about how to do or not to do something. I had to learn it on my own.

Being the red flag in the tug of war of hatred between my two families didn’t help me at all. You would think that I would be good at least on negotiation, but sadly no. I am just good at staying in the background and working behind the scenes. Now, I’m only in touch with a 2-4 members on both sides, but for the most part, I’m the black sheep and not to be associated with them at all. They don’t know how hard that is on me. Don’t get me wrong. I still love them and lift them up in prayer ever day, but I would like to talk to them and see what they’re up to every so often. I tried with one of my cousins a couple years ago, but it ended almost as soon as it began. I guess some of it is my part because I have not stayed in touch, but now I don’t know their numbers except one and I have tried It several times with no call back as of right now.

I am finally on good medication and in a good place. I am in therapy again, but this time I really like this person and the way that the sessions are going. I knot that this is not an over night process, but then again it didn’t happen all in one night. It took years for all the stuff to happen and affect me so I guess that it will take me a long time to get me free. I am facing my demons head-on now, and my difficulties are turning into beauty. I finally like myself and know that God loves me. I know that God is my Father and Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Jesus loves me so much that if He had to die again just for me, He would. I know that I am going to heaven, and I am trying to serve Jesus in this lifetime as well.

You know Jesus and God love you too. Jesus would climb back on that Cross and die again for you. Just for you! That says a lot. You are worth that much to Him. God is the Father of all Mankind. He is the Creator. He spoke everything into creation, not just some things! Jesus is His Son and part of the Godhead. His was a virgin birth. He taught for 3 years then died on the cross between two thieves. One was saved and went to heaven with Jesus and the other one didn’t. Jesus was raised from the dead three days later and after revealing himself to many people, He went up to Heaven and sits at the right hand of God.

Do you want to go to Heaven or do you want to be like the other thief and try to swim in the Lake of Fire?

This is a powerful Proverb. It says it all. Proverb 23:7 tells us in plain English that everything is tied into our thoughts and what we are thinking at this very moment. What are you thinking right now? Does it matter? I mean really matter in and to your life at this very moment? Does it? The answer is a resounding “YES!”

People don’t realize that what they think dictates everything else about them: mood, feelings, words, attitude, behavior, and even actions and therefore reactions. Your thoughts and therefore your imagination shapes your life. If you want to change any thing at all about you, you have to start with changing your thinking it first.

Let’s take the number one thing that almost everyone knows about or has tried at least once in their lives: Dieting. There are so many diets out there that it is hard to choose one. It is just crazy. You don’t know which one will work for you.

Of course, if you are anything like me you choose the one that will cause the least amount of change to your routine and food intake or eating habits and the easiest to do and if it fits into your budget. You pick a pill. Maybe it works for a while so you lose the weight you wanted to and you stop taking the pill. All of a sudden you start gain the weight right back. You go back on the diet again, but this time it doesn’t work. What do you do? You look for the Next Diet…

Again, you go for the one that offers little change or effort, but doesn’t work. You are not a gym person so what are you going to do. You can always jump on the diet bandwagon of those diets where you have to buy their food and never cook your own food again. Is that what you really want? Are you ready to face the truth? Now?

You need to change your thinking! Then you will lose weight. Start living healthy, and whole lives. Do some sort of exercise program. It does not have to be at a gym. It can be as simple as a yoga/video workout at home. Study and read the Bible about being healthy. It has a lot of things to say about and fill you thoughts with all those good thoughts. Pray and God will help fill you mind with good thoughts too.

I’ve not had a very good life, but it’s made me the woman I am today. I was (and still am to a point) a very angry woman. (God’s still working on me. Praise the Lord) I am now in my 50s and it has taken me until now to know that negativity will slowly kill you. It will eat you up from the inside. You can’t love if you are always negative. You will be miserable in your own little bit of hell and make everyone around you miserble too. There is no hope there either. There is only fear and despear. There is hate there too. Do you want that?

I don’t want that anymore, but I backslide sometimes and God corrects me sternly, but patiently. I am blessed with a housemate that is very humble, kind, caring, and forgiving of my faults. She has helped me more than she will ever know. She has taught me and most likely will teach me a lot more in the future. I just pray that I am such a good friend to her. At least I try to be.

Now Positive thinking is something to grab a hold of and not let go. If you start to fill you mind with Bible verses and positive quotes and thoughts which you share with all your friends, you will push all those negative thoughts out of your head then your mood, feeling, words, attitude, behavior, actions and even reactions will change in a more positive way. You just might start loving people and finding hope again. People will start to see the change in you, and start gravitating toward you instead of away. You will get a pep in your step and be a happier person all around.

We live in a time driven world with no time for time. We run around doing stuff as quickly as we can with no time for anything else. We go here just long enough to get what we want done and not a minute more, then off to the next place for again just the right amount of time again. Are we nothing more than rats on wheels going no where? I am constantly working on something, all the time, with no time just to sit and think, much less read a book. I have actually had to stop myself in the middle of doing something to turn off the TV, and take a moment to actually make time for time. And Breathe for a second.

I remember a time in which we didn’t turn on the TV until after noon or ever as late as 7 PM and turned it off at 11 PM because the programming was done. But now the TV runs 24/7 around the world and around meIt’s like I can’t do anything without it blaring in the background. I know that I grew up with constant music around me, but why am I now drawn to the TV. I I on’t watch it foghtrighr any value. Most of the time I put on reruns that I have already seen so Ican look up from whatever I’m doing and know right where they are in the story. I need to get back to the music. Music is forever!

Not only is the TV a grabber of time for time sake, so is Facebook. I had so many people that I followed that I could not get through everything that they posted and I would get frustrated by it nearly everyday, or I would get fed up with the trash that people would post. People would get mad at me for not seeing what they posted. or not responding to them fast enough or at all. I finally had to stop looking at it at all. I just didn’t want to spend all my day to try to keep up with everyone else’s lives. I want to live my life! Twitter is just as bad but Instagram is better because it’s about pictures and not so much about talking.

We have to be careful about running out of time and wearing our bodies out. We have to take time to smell the flowers and slow down. We have to make up our minds what is important to us and where we really need to spend our energy, but we need to make time for time. If we don’t slow down, we will burn ourselves down.

This is where God comes into the picture. If we start out our day with at least 30 minutes of quiet time and prayer with God and ask for His guidance for the day, then we will be able to have a plan for the day and be able to handle whatever is thrown at us that day. If we put God first, then the world can go jump in the lake. If you know Christ and have him as you Lord and Savior, then you are a Winner cause you’ve read the end of the book.